Yanukovich and Timoshenko go on to second round, Transnistrian voters take bus to Balti to cast a vote

With about 44 percent of the vote counted, Ukrainian presidential candidates Viktor Yanukovich and Yulia Timoshenko look like they are headed to a second round of elections.

Mr. Yanukovich has won about 36 percent, followed by Ms. Timoshenko with about 25 percent.

It is unclear how Ukrainian citizens living in Moldova voted since the Ukrainian Central Electoral Commission has not yet broken down the results by foreign country. At this time, only 23 percent of the vote abroad (2,713) had been counted. Mr. Yanukovich had garnered 34 percent of the vote, followed by Ms. Timoshenko (24 percent).

No irregularities were observed during the voting process in Moldova. The country is only mentioned in one case by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when Ukrainian citizens from the Transnistrian cities of Ribnita and Camenca were sent to the city of Balti by the separatist authorities on a bus in order to be able to vote. Ukrainians in Moldova, most of whom live in the breakaway republic of Transnistria, could only vote in Balti or Chisinau.

Timpul wrote a front-page story on the voting process in Chisinau and Balti, indicating very low turnout considering the presence of over 70,000 Ukrainians in the country.